Stop motion for narrow fabric looms



E. R. BOWSER STOP MOTION FOR NARROW FABRIC LOOMS Sept. 10, 1963 s Sheets -Shee t 1 Fiied July 25. 1960 INVENTORI ERNEST R BOWSER ifiw/ ATTYS Sept. 10, 1963 E. R. BOWSER STOP MOTION FOR NARROW FABRIC LOOMS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 25, 1960 ERNEST R. BOWSER ATTYS.

p 0, 1963 E. R. BOWSER 3,103,236

STOP MOTION FOR NARROW FABRIC LOOMS Filed July 25, 1960 s Sheets-Sheet a FREE.

FIEEI. FIEJEI- 85 r 85' v INVENTORZ ERN EST R BOWSER ATTYS I United States Patent Ofitice Patented Sept. 10, 1963 3,103,236 STQP MOTIGN FGR NARROW FABRIC LUOMS Ernest R. Bowser, Red Hill, Pa, assignor to Bowser and Associates, 1116-, Red Hill, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed July 25, 1960, Ser. No. 44,975 v 3 (liairns. (Cl. 139-4571) features and details of the construction and operation thereof are more fully set forth hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front View with portions omitted of a narrow fabric loom embodying stop motion mechanism ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a right hand end vie-w as seen on the line FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1, and showing the detectors of the stop motion mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a detector assembly as seen from the rear;

.FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 1, and at the same scale as FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 66 of FIG. 1; but with the lay in its forward position;

FIG. 7 is a front view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary plan view of certain structure of the stop motion mechanism as indicated by the line 88 in FIG. '1;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are fragmentary views inside elevation of the detector assemblies in different positions of operation; v I i I FIG. 11 is a plan View of a shuttle of the loom;

FIG. 12 is a front view of the shuttle;- and FIG. 13 is a sectional view of the shuttle taken on the line 1313 in FIG. 12.

Referring now to the drawing, the loom embodying the present invention comprises a frame 10 having front pieces 11, 11 secured thereto. A lay 14 is mounted for reciprocation behind the front pieces 11 and includes two levels of shuttle guide blocks, the blocks in the upper level being designated 151, 15-2, etc., and the blocks in the lower level being designated 161, 16-2, etc. A reed comb is positioned intermediate each pair of adjacent blocks. As shown in FIG. 1, reed combs 17-1, 17-2, etc., are positioned intermediate the pairs of adjacent upper blocks 15 and reed combs 13-1, 18-2, etc., are positioned intermediate the pair of adjacent lower blocks 16. In accordance with the usual practice, the warp yarns W are threaded through the reed combs 17 and 18 from a supply through heddles (not shown) to the rear of the lay. After passing through the reed combs 1'7 and 18, the warp yarns are interwoven with weft .yarns Y to form a fabric F which is drawn forwardly and downwardly by takeup means (not shown) and guide rods 19- and N (see FIG. 2).

To effect weaving of the fabric, generally arcuate shuttles 21 and 22 are mounted in the guide blocks 15 and 16 for displacement in arcuate paths through the sheds of warp yarns W by means of pinions Z3 and 24 mounted in the blocks 15 and 16 respectively and driven by a rack 25 reciprocated transversely of the loom in failure of the yarn supply in the shuttles. To this end,

- downwardly and are traversed in a downwardly convex arcuate path. The shuttles 22 are disposed with their concave portion downwardly and are traversed in a downwardly concave arcuate path. Following traverse of the shuttles 21 and 22, the lay is beat up to drive the weft yarn inserted by the shuttles against the fell of the fabric F in the usual manner. It should be noted that although FIG. 1 shows only a single shuttle at each level, there is a shuttle for each reed comb of the loom. All of the shuttles are displaced between their right-hand and left-hand positions in the guide blocks concurrently by the reciprocation of the rack 25.

In accordance with the invention, means is provided to arrest the operation of the machine in the event of the shuttles 21 have incorporated therein a drop wire 31 which is pivoted therein adjacent their convex portions as indicated at 32, 32. As shown in FIGS. 11, and 13, the weft yarn Y is drawn from a supply bobbin 34 under the drop wire 31 through eyelets 35 and out through the eye 36 of the shuttle. The normal tension of the weft yarn Y maintains the drop wire 31 elevated within. the confines of the shuttle body 21. In the event of failure of the weft yarn supply, either through breakagecausing a loss of tension or through the depletion of the bobbin 34, the drop wire 31 falls to the position shown in FIGS.

. 6 and 7, and in broken lines in FIG. 13, thereby indicating the failure of the weft yarn supply.

A similar drop wire 41 is embodied adjacent the concave portions of the lower shuttles 22. It is noted that the shuttles 22 are disposed with their concave portion downwardly so that the drop wire 41 depends into the concavity of the shuttle as shown in FIG. 1, and falls downwardly upon failure of the weft yarn supply.

The invention provides detector assemblies to sense. the falling of the drop wires 31 and 41. For each'drop wire 31 a pair of detector assemblies 51 and 52 are provided, and for each drop wire 41 a single detector assembly 69 is provided. The detectorassemblies 51 are operative when the shuttles 21 are at the right hand side of their respective reeds, and the detector assemblies 52 are operative when the shuttles 21 are on the left hand side of their respective reeds. The assemblies 69 are operative where the shuttles 22 are on either sideof their respective reeds.

The right-hand detector assemblies 51 are mounted on a common mounting bar 53 which is journalled for pivotal movement in the side pieces 11, 11 as indicated at 54 and 5 5. The left hand detector assemblies 52 are likewise mounted on a common bar 64 which is pivotally mounted in the side frames 11, 11 as indicated at 65 and 66. The bars 53 and '64 are interconnected by gears 67 topivot counterdirectionally. An operation crank 56 is secured to the bar 53 and is actuated by a linkage 57 including a follower roller 58 controlled by a cam 59 on a main shaft 6% of'the loom. The shaft 60 rotates once for every four beat-ups of the lay 14 so that the high spots 62 of the cam 59 engage the follower roller'58 when the lay is in its forward limit position with the shuttles on the right hand side of their respective reeds. By the same token, the low spots 63 of the cam 59 engage the roller 58 when the lay 14 is in its forward limit position with the shuttles on the left hand side of their respective reeds.

bar 53 and insulated therefrom as indicated at 73. The

leg 71 terminates in a forwardly projecting foot 74 which is notched as indicated at 75 to provide a toe portion '76. A spring finger 81 is secured to the bar 53, for example as indicated at $2 and projects upwardly in generally parallel relation to the contact leg 71, terminating in spaced relation to the forwardly turned foot 74. The spring finger 81, as shown in FIG. 4 is disposed in a position closely adjacent the pathof movement of the shuttle 21 when it is displaced forwardly by the lay 14.

If the yarn supply in the shuttle Z1 is fully operative, the drop wire 31 is retained within the confines of the shuttle, as described above; however, if there is a failure in the supply, the drop wire 31 drops into the lower position wherein it engages the spring finger 81 and presses it rearwardly into engagement with the foot portion 74 wherein the toe 76 serves as a latch means to latch the spring finger 81 into the notch 75. As shown most clearly in FIG. 6, the upper terminal portion 83 of the spring finger 81 is turned forwardly to insure against inadvertent disengagement of the spring finger 81 from the drop wire 31. When the spring finger 81 is engaged in the notch 75, electrical contact is established between the spring finger 81 and the leg 71 thereby completing a circuit to the stop motion control 91 (see FIG. 2) which interrupts operation of the loom.

It is noted that the spring finger of the detector assembly 5-1 is in registry with the body of the shuttle when the shuttle is in the right hand position relative to its reed (see FIG. 4). In order to prevent engagement of the shuttle with the spring finger of the detector assembly 52, thereby engaging the spring finger with the leg, the detector assembly 52 is withdrawn forwardly beyond the forward limit position of the shuttle 21. This is accomplished by the interengagement of the gears 67 under the control of the cam 59 which displaces the assembly 51 towards lay and the assembly 52 away from the lay at the time when the shuttle is in its right hand position. By the same token, when the shuttle is in the left hand position, the detector assembly 51 is displaced rearwardly and the assembly 52 is displaced forwardly as shown in FIG. 10, so that the spring finger of the assembly 52 is in the path of the shuttle in its left hand position and the spring finger 81 of the assembly 51 is withdrawn beyond the path of movement of the shuttle in the left hand position. When the lay is at its rearward limit position, the assemblies are in the positions shown in FIG. 9.

The electrical connections to the assemblies 51, 52, and 69 include a conductive spring 101 interconnecting the spring fingers of the assemblies 51 and 52, which in turn are connected to the spring finger of the assembly 69 by a conductor 10-2, which continues into the control box 91 for the stop motion. The buses 72 of the assemblies 51 and 52 are likewise connected by a spring element 103 which in turn is connected to the bus of the assembly 69 by a conductor 104 which continues into the control box 91. Thus, when the weft supply in any of the shuttles is interrupted, the detector assembly associated with the shuttle establishes electrical contact between the conductors 102 and 164, thereby initiating the stop motion and arresting operation of the loom.

While a particular embodiment of the present invention has been herein illustrated and described, it is not intended to limit the invention to such disclosure, but changes and modifications may be made therein and thereto within the scope of the following claims.

1. In a narrow fabric loom, a frame, a lay mounted for reciprocatory movement on said frame and having a plurality of spaced shuttle guide blocks and a plurality of reed combs respectively located between adjacently disposed shuttle guide blocks, an arcuate shuttle for each reed comb, means to traverse said shuttle across said reed comb in the rearward limit position of said lay, said guide blocks including guideways to guide the shuttles with their convex portions downwardly in a downwardly convex path between right and left limit positions in said blocks, a drop wire mounted in each shuttle operable to be supported in an upper limit position by the yarn supply in said shuttle and upon failure of said supply operable to drop to a lower limit position depending from the concave portion of said shuttle, and detector means mounted on the frame including a pair of contact legs and fingers normally spaced from said legs for each block and positioned adjacent the shuttle in the forward limit position of the lay, one leg and finger registering with the depending drop wire in the right limit position of the shuttle, and the other leg and finger registering with the depending drop wire in the left limit position of the shuttle, said finger means'being operable to be engaged by the drop wire in its lower limit position, and'inoperative to be engaged by said drop wire in its upper limit posiiton, said drop wire displacing said finger into operative contact with said leg upon displacement of said lay to its forward limit'position, and means operatively connected to said detector means to stop said loom upon operative engagement of said finger with said leg.

2. A narrow fabric loom according to claim 1 including means to displace the right and left legs and fingers counter-directionally between forward and back positions within and beyond the reciprocatory path of the shuttles with the lay. i

3. In a narrow fabric loom, a frame, a lay mounted for reciprocatory movement in said frame, and having a plurality of spaced shuttle guide blocks and a plurality of reed combs respectively located between adjacently disposed shuttle guide blocks, a shuttle for each reed comb and means to traverse said shuttle across said reed comb between right and left limit positions respectively in the guide blocks adjacent said comb when the lay is in its rearward limit position, a drop wire mounted in each shuttle operable to be supported in an upper limit position by the yarn supply in said shuttle and upon failure of said supply operable to drop to a lower limit position, a pair of detector bars mounted for pivotal movement in said frame, a detector assembly mounted on each bar in registry with each shuttle guide block, operating means to simultaneously pivot said barsto position one of said detector assemblies toward the lay and the other of said assemblies away from the lay and operable to reverse the respective positions of said assemblies, one of said assemblies operable to engage the fallen drop wire when a shuttle is in its one limit position in said block, the other assembly being operable to engage the fallen drop wire when a shuttle is in its other limit position in said block, said actuating means being operated in timed relation to said traversing means and said lay, and stop motion control means operatively connected to said detector assembly to stop operation of the loom and engagement of one of said assemblies with a fallen drop wire.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,063,178 Benz, Jr. June 3, 1913 2,356,458 Holmes Aug. 22, 1944 2,512,428 Hutchins June 20, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,013,226 France Apr. 30, 1952 

1. IN A NARROW FABRIC LOOM, A FRAME, A LAY MOUNTED FOR RECIPROCATORY MOVEMENT ON SAID FRAME AND HAVING A PLURALITY OF SPACED SHUTTLE GUIDE BLOCKS AND A PLURALITY OF REED COMBS RESPECTIVELY LOCATED BETWEEN ADJACENTLY DISPOSED SHUTTLE GUIDE BLOCKS, AN ARCUATE SHUTTLE FOR EACH REED COMB, MEANS TO TRAVERSE SAID SHUTTLE ACROSS SAID REED COMB IN THE REARWARD LIMIT POSITION OF SAID LAY, SAID GUIDE BLOCKS INCLUDING GUIDEWAYS TO GUIDE THE SHUTTLES WITH THEIR CONVEX PORTIONS DOWNWARDLY IN A DOWNWARDLY CONVEX PATH BETWEEN RIGHT AND LEFT LIMIT POSITIONS IN SAID BLOCKS, A DROP WIRE MOUNTED IN EACH SHUTTLE OPERABLE TO BE SUPPORTED IN AN UPPER LIMIT POSITION BY THE YARN SUPPLY IN SAID SHUTTLE AND UPON FAILURE OF SAID SUPPLY OPERABLE TO DROP TO A LOWER LIMIT POSITION DEPENDING FROM THE CONCAVE PORTION OF SAID SHUTTLE, AND DETECTOR MEANS MOUNTED ON THE FRAME INCLUDING A PAIR OF CONTACT LEGS AND FINGERS NORMALLY SPACED FROM SAID LEGS FOR EACH BLOCK AND POSITIONED ADJACENT THE SHUTTLE IN THE FORWARD LIMIT POSITION OF THE LAY, ONE LEG AND FINGER REGISTERING WITH THE DEPENDING DROP WIRE IN THE RIGHT LIMIT POSITION OF THE SHUTTLE, AND THE OTHER LEG AND FINGER REGISTERING WITH THE DEPENDING DROP WIRE IN THE LEFT LIMIT POSITION OF THE SHUTTLE, SAID FINGER MEANS BEING OPERABLE TO BE ENGAGED 